Author: Lane

We just spent a memorable, fun week with my family at Disney World. A wonderful gift from my parents that I am very thankful for. I shared several pictures on social media from the trip and God has put on my heart to tell you my real thoughts on Disney World, “the happiest, magical place on earth.”

A couple of years ago Matt and I took our oldest son when it was just the three of us. When I got home from that trip I had this amazing amount of guilt that we would spend so much of our resources to vacation together when those resources could have been sent to the take the gospel to the unreached or serve the vulnerable. It’s a battle I still face in my mind and heart really every time I spend money on any luxury. Please know I am not saying its wrong to vacation…we just did it! It’s always the longings of the heart. What/Who am I chasing after? I battle all the time should we move to have a less mortgage so we can give more. I have to check my heart in the why am I spending money on whatever it may be from a $5 coffee drink to a house. I have to ask am I making that luxury an idol on my heart to satisfy me? Where am I laying up my treasures? Last year I had to turn from buying any article of clothing for a whole year because my heart attitude in the why I was buying something was all about me. No thing, no vacation, no person, no meal, nothing can quench the thirst in my soul except for Christ himself. And if we try to fill up on the things of this world we will be so distracted, so full that we won’t be hungry for the Bread of Life that alone satisfies the longings of our souls.

A trip to Disney World with your kids might be the epitome of the American Dream. Let me tell you though, dreams end and what’s only in Christ remains. For I have tasted and seen and there is something far better in Jesus. As I walked the streets in Disney World what I saw at times broke my heart. I saw so many parents yelling at their kids in the worst of ways and the Holy Spirit convicted me that I also do the same in different ways even at Disney World. You see special kinds of tantrums. You experience hot, crowded streets and long bus rides. Matt’s activity app said we walked about 10 miles average each day and our backs felt the effects of it. In the “Happiest place on earth” there is much brokenness. You see the effects of the fall of man when Adam and Eve listened to Satan in the garden. God had told Adam and Eve if they ate of the tree in the garden “They would surely die.” God is always true to his Word. He always keeps His promises. And so after this first sin we see sickness, death, sorrow effect man. The wages of sin is death and we are all born under the curse of sin. God alone is holy and sin can not be in his presence and this first sin separated all of mankind from God.

The moment we are conceived we are sinners, born children of darkness. No one is born a child of God. Now each person is made by God, knit together in their mothers womb by God and known by God but no one is born his child. We are only adopted into Gods family by grace through faith in Christ alone. It is because of what Jesus did on that cross in Calvary 2,000 something years ago and rising from the dead that we may live when we turn to him in faith. While we were still sinners Christ died for us.

So as I walked the streets of Disney I thought about all of this as I looked at all the people God has created in his image, that he loves, that Christ paid the death penalty for drinking the cup of the wrath of God wondering if they had ever heard of his great love for them. I wondered if they had turned to Him or wondered if they were still filling the longings of their heart with things of this world, that can never satisfy and only lead to death. And I pray, Lord your Kingdom Come quickly.

For I have been to the happiest, places on earth and it’s not Disney World. The happiest places are the places you see the Light shining in the darkness. The places you see children who were once in darkness stepping into the Kingdom of God becoming children of Light. And there is no magic to it. It is the power of God bringing people into his eternal family. It’s reality. And there is nothing else that can hold a candle to it.

May you have a wonderful weekend worshipping our Risen, Lord and King!

Before I even write another word I must be upfront and honest. I battle my own selfishness daily in motherhood. What happened in my house yesterday is nothing but ugly. I’m scarred to let you in this picture but I feel compelled to before I write more. So welcome to Sunday afternoon in my house.

How in the world can a house get so messy in two days is what is running through my mind? I don’t pick up for two days and now we can’t seem to see the floor. So I start my cleaning in a fit of rage. Going from room to room I pick up and put away while at the same time my one year old was in the process of literally emptying out baskets of toys all over the place(so really just doing what one year olds do). I let my husband get an earful that this is what I do everyday. I told him I was going crazy and how defeated I felt. I am not one to usually curse aloud but feeling that it was my right too I let out a word that I shouldn’t have. And that only made me feel worse. That’s what sin does. Sin enslaves you to shame. I then move into the kitchen that was now the clean room to find my child throwing everything out of his diaper bag. I tell him no. He doesn’t stop and so I only get louder and yell no again. Now he’s in tears and I feel like the worst mother on the planet.

I share all this with you because I’m in the trenches too. I fail daily and that is when I preach the gospel to myself. God’s grace is always greater when my heart wants to condemn me. Jesus took the wrath I deserve for my sin and it is finished. I am no longer condemned because of what Jesus did. And as a child of God I hate the sin that I still turn too because it keeps me from walking in the Spirit and in truth and reflecting his image to a dying world. I can’t walk in the Spirit if I’m choosing to walk in sin. We experience freedom only in abiding in Christ and dying to self walking in his ways.

Wow so that was my intro to lay the ground work. I wanted to share the above because I’m in the trenches too.

Now to this post…

I shared this with a group of moms in my church fellowship last summer and it’s been on my heart to share it here. I keep seeing so many articles about what is wrong with todays kids. As a young mom they really aren’t encouraging at all.

We live in a world where we are constantly hearing about all that can go wrong and seeing how our peers are doing. We hear about moms who lose their child and they end up in a gorilla cage in the zoo or remember the child attacked by an alligator at Disney. Those moms are then attacked in the media. And then on the other hand we can daily hear about being a helicopter mom or a lawn mower mom and how we need to let kids learn and be kids. We live in a world where we constantly read a new article on facebook about new dangers in the world…electric shock drowning, the toxicity of sunscreen, slides being covered with glass, a child swallowing a fidget spinner, the reality of human trafficking, the new drug of child pornography, children being shot and killed. This list goes on and on. As moms we are constantly being told things to fear and everything we need to do to help our child succeed. On tap of that we we read things posted about everything thats wrong with todays children blaming the parents.

Hear this: the fear of man is always a trap.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Proverbs 9:10). It is only in having a right view of God and who we are in Christ can we find rest. When our eyes are looking at Jesus the fears of this world fade and our thoughts are taken captive to Christ. For we can take heart in Christ for he has overcome the world. Yes, in this world we will have trouble but we rest in the truth that Jesus has overcome the world.

It is a daily battle field for my mind in this world but God continues to faithfully meet me in His Word. God transforms me and renews my thinking in His Word. God transforms my desires, my longings, my thoughts and my fears.

So Mama’s lets encourage each other and build each other up and pour into each others little ones like they are our own. Because they are. When you are in Christ we belong to each other in Christ(Romans 12). Let us rejoice, mourn, encourage, rebuke in love, and serve one another all for the glory of God. Lets not invoke fear of man or shame but encourage and build one another up in love. We need each other. Older women pour into and teach younger women in love and younger women listen. There is no room for judgement or condemnation only serving each other in love all for the glory of God.

Wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord. Wisdom is the right application of knowledge. We get lots of knowledge in our day of all the dangers in this world as our finger tips scroll through news feeds. We can’t apply anything we learn without first seeing that apart from Christ we cant do anything good. We must first remember and see we are sinners who deserve nothing but the full wrath of God. BUT God in his great love and mercy saved us while we were dead in transgressions. We are dead apart from Christ and without him we can’t do anything good. Christ dwells in us through the Holy Spirit when you call on his name turning to him and you are sealed in Him. So when I think about walking in the fear of the Lord I think about surrendering in reverent worship and walking in full dependency on Jesus.

Wherever you are friend lean hard on Jesus. And when you feel you can’t go on lean harder on Jesus and don’t hesitate to reach out to sisters in Christ. For we belong to one another(Romans 12:5).

I can’t begin to get this motherhood thing right unless I first take each day walking as who I am a child myself…A child of God depending fully on Jesus and resting fully in the truth that Jesus is making ALL things new. And in the meanwhile I am Christ’s ambassador here in a dying world and that includes first being an ambassador to my kids.

I write brothers and sisters as that is what we are in Christ for all eternity. I thank God for you! I write this letter with a heavy and tired heart. But fixing my eyes not on what is seen but what is unseen, I am certain that these light and momentary troubles are achieving an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

My first initial reaction to the Vegas shootings this week was one of numbness. Day by day we wake up to the horrible realities where children are killed and ripped from their mothers wombs by choice, children are sold as sex slaves, the average refugee lives in a a refugee camp for 17 years, child pornography is a new drug, children in the city I live in have to walk past an “adult bookstore” on their way to elementary school, Heroin is easily accessible for teenagers in local schools, and children are living in places eating pies made out of mud. We see the effects of sin in us all and the effect our sin has on each other. I used to work in a skilled nursing home in Tennessee where I would cry in the bathroom regularly on my lunch break. I would go home and have night terrors during the early part of my marriage because the images of my patients laying in stone lonely rooms day after day simply surviving until the next day rocked me to the core. But eventually I had to learn to grow a thick skin to what I would see day after day. I found myself having the same response when I opened my email for the day to see that the deadliest shooting in U.S. history had happened. I simply went on to check my inbox.

I do not like my response and I grieve I had that response initially and where my skin is thick. But I have to see my response as very similar to the church in the west in our day but to thousands dying daily. Every day. Followers of Jesus are sitting back and watching approximately 70,000 people die daily without ever hearing the gospel. Without receiving the gift of salvation in Jesus Christ one faces an eternity receiving the full wrath of God. We sit in our church buildings week after week and consider missions just a side ministry that we might wear a t-shirt for every now and then. Less than 1% of the American churches money is going to spread the gospel to the unreached having more money spent on dog Halloween costumes than what is sent to the reach the unreached with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

God in his sovereignty could open up the heavens and reveal Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior to all but this is not what God in his sovereignty has chosen to do. God has chosen to use his people to GO and share the gospel so people can hear the call and be reconciled to Him through Jesus Christ our Lord. This is amazing, God has chosen to use His people to share His great love in bringing a people to himself from every tribe, nation, and tongue through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Brothers and sisters lets please don’t grow a thick skin and let us encourage one another as the day draws near. May we be a people that do not sit back and watch Billions of people perish for all eternity because our hearts were too hard to pray, send missionaries and Go ourselves.

Let’s take seriously Jesus’ words where he tells his disciples “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” (John 20). “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8). “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24:14)

Step back American follower of Jesus and let us weep and mourn with those who mourn and walk in the reality of the great hope we have in Jesus Christ our Lord and share that hope with a perishing world around us with great eagerness and joy.

“And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. ” (2 Corinthians 5: 19-20)

The real gospel never ends with you!!! An imposter gospel will end with you but the gospel of Jesus Christ never ends with you.

“From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” (Luke 12:48) We have been given much!!! We have been given the gift of sonship for all eternity in Jesus Christ our Lord and what are you doing with the gospel, the greatest gift ever given?

Last week I went to a course on treatment in adult neurogenics. As I sat and listened to the presenter speak way over my head in an area that I am supposed to have great knowledge in my thoughts were turned to God. Think a moment about all the different professions that study how God made us. Cardiologists, dentists, podiatrists, neurologists, pathologists, oncologists…this list goes on and on. All different fields that go to years and years of schooling and spend a life time learning about how God made us when he “formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed life into his nostrils”(Genesis 2:7)

I sit back in awe that we can not even begin to grasp the complexity of how God made us. We have to have a specific field to specialize in. There is no way to even begin to understand them all in full. God breathed and man was created. That is a glimpse at just how powerful God is. We have to rest in the truth that God is not like us and that is a good thing and quit trying to compare him to anything.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8)

We can not comprehend and we need to rest in that and let that fuel worship. If one was ever able to fully comprehend God then God would some how have some kind of measurement and therefore have limits. And if God has limits then He would not be worthy of worship for all eternity.

One truth about God that my small group talked about tonight is how God does not change. Think about this truth about God for a moment. God does not change his mind. We however change constantly. God never changes his love for you poured out in Christ. In fact today God feels about sinners “exactly as He did when He sent His only-begotten Son into the world to die for mankind!”(Tozer) Wow!!! We also have to see that God does not change in His just wrath.

We will all stand before the Lord one day and God will not change His mind about His plans and purposes in Christ. There will be no excuse for anyone. There will be no telling God I went to church, my grandfather was a pastor, I lived on a deserted island and never heard about you, or I was a good person. The truth is every single person in this world is without excuse for worshipping God for who He is. “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” Our only right response is worship and thanksgiving. We all have gone our own way though and fallen short of His glory therefore are separated from Him deserving his full wrath for all eternity. There is no one innocent not one.

But God has reconciled sinners to himself through Jesus Christ our Lord who took the full wrath of God in our place. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21). “Jesus says “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14)

God will not change his mind about this as God can not change. It is only by grace you are saved through faith in Christ alone. This is such good news but should bring the follower of Christ to great urgency!!!!! Currently there are billions of people that have never heard the gospel. And “How, then can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without preaching to them?” (Romans 10:14)

There is a football stadium full of people daily dying without ever hearing the good news that Jesus has come to reconcile sinners who receive him to a Holy God while we sit in church pews week after week. May the follower of Jesus walk in reckless abandon to make known the mysteries of His gospel because Jesus is worthy of all praise.

It’s the early hours of a new day but I sense the urgent need to write. I pray these words only cause you to look and examine in scripture for yourself.

The headline I just read as I was checking my email was about the most liked tweet ever on twitter. This tweet was by Barack Obama in his response to Charlottesville where he quotes a portion of Nelson Mandela “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion,” Mandela’s full quote finishes “people must learn to hate, and if people can learn to hate, people can be taught to love.”

Before I go further I must say first the Christ follower must fully condemn white supremacy. This is not a time to be silent. I love Beth Moore’s words on this one “We cannot renounce what we will not name. It’s called white supremacy. And it is from hell. Call it. Condemn it.” See Tim Keller’s article here for further explanation. That is not my reason for writing tonight but I see the need to say that upfront. I also need to say this is in no way a post to bash Obama in any way or to bring up political debate.

I want to simply state why the quote contradicts God’s Word that was referenced in the most liked tweet. Mandela’s quote says that we are taught to hate that no one is born hating. However listen to what God’s word says:

There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. ALL have turned away, they have become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3: 10-18).

We are all born sinners. Worse than being born hating people for skin color we are born in complete opposition to God. We have all turned. We have all strayed. We all fall short of the glory of God. And in this we all are born sinners that hurt one another and oppose one another. Yes. Every single one of us. We don’t earn our sin scars we are born with them. We are born seeking pleasure for self and self alone. We each deserve the full wrath of God for our own hate against God. That’s what sin is. It’s full rebellion and opposition to God. We are born enemies of God.

But God….

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him. For if while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” Romans 5:6-11

We have to first see that we are all born haters. We are born haters of God himself whether you realize it or not. We are born in full separation of God since the fall of man(Genesis 3). And since the fall we have all personally rebelled against God. This opposition of God we are born into crosses all races, genders, cultures, and families making us all born separated from God who alone is righteous and good.

Then it becomes clearer I can’t be taught to love. Because we are born enemies of God we cannot be taught to love. Now you can be taught to obey rules and laws but one can not be taught to love. We have to be changed by love himself to actually be able to love.

You ever wonder how much God hates sin? Look at the cross. You ever wonder how much God loves you? Look at the cross.

Jesus he has redeemed our rebellious, hateful hearts receiving the full punishment for our sin drinking the cup of the wrath of God that we each deserve. There’s a catch though. To have a Savior you have to see your need to be saved. A Savior saves from something. There’s this seeing your need to open the gift first. We have to see and confess our sin against God seeing our own deep need for Christ. Jesus himself is our peace with God. He has paid the penalty. In Christ justice has been served. It’s all about Christ and without him there is no life.

At the end of the year a new thing is to reflect back on the “Best 9” moments. The Best 9 moments are measured by the number of likes on an Instagram post. I think this is fun to do, to reflect and look back on. At the end of last year I found myself reflecting and looking back on the year I had just had. Not at the photos that had a lot of likes but looking back and remembering: Did I share the gospel with words faithfully? Did I love my husband and children well? Did I serve my brothers and sisters? Did I teach and equip people with the Word of God? Did I give sacrificially of my resources and my time? Did I reach out to internationals? All of these questions I’m convicted on.

Your Best 9 moments can not and should not all be seen on a social media news feed. Scripture teaches that we are not to pronounce all over when we give and serve. Listen to Jesus’ words: “When you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:2-4)

Do the best 9 moments of your year so far have you at the center or God at the center? Are your best moments that trip to the beach? That anniversary trip? The Disney world trip? etc. Now one or two of your best memories or moments might pop up. Thats ok but one thing to ask is how is God at the center of each of those 9 moments that look the best to others in your life? How are you reflecting his character and putting the spotlight on God? It is not the things or the experiences that measure our days it’s the fruit. Fruit only comes by abiding in Christ and walking in obedience to him alone.

I share this to encourage and spur on in August because the year isn’t over. I am preaching to myself too y’all. Can you think of 9 people that you have talked with about Jesus that are not your close friends? Have you shared the gospel one time this year yet with words? Are you taking in God’s Word daily to know and experience more of him? Ann Voskamps words come to mind “Every day you can do one thing you wish you could do for everyone. We will be known for our actual fruits not the intentions of our imaginations.”

You don’t need a t-shirt to put on to produce fruit you just need the armor God gives you DAILY. God’s grace for today is always greater than your yesterday failures. Walk in God’s grace. His mercies are new every morning. Each day is a gift to pour out all you have been given trusting that God is going to fill you tomorrow. He always does. Anything good we have to pour out only comes from God. We can’t do anything good apart from Christ (John 15).

Take a moment to reflect on your year so far. Number your days friends. Scripture teaches us this. “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom”(Psalm 90:12). Know friends God’s grace is greater than our failures always. I fail daily and I only see my need for Jesus more. I find such rest in his faithfulness. Don’t miss out on the joy in the obedience in walking with Jesus.

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Jim Elliot

I thought you follow Jesus why would you then spend your weekend in an Islamic mosque? Let me answer this.

This past Saturday, along with 15 others from my church family, I visited an Islamic mosque learning and asking about the Islamic faith. Myself and the other women all wore scarves over our heads out of respect. It would be like a muslim woman wearing a dress to worship in a Christian church. Wearing a dress does not make her a Christian. She would just be dressing for the environment out of respect so we wanted to show them the same respect. We all listened to the Imam teach us what they believe in the Islamic faith. One thing I learned is Jesus is mentioned in the Quran more times than Muhammad is among many other take aways.

Why would a group of Christ followers do this? The same reason we would learn what a Buddhist believes, a Mormon believes, or a Hindu believes. Jesus after he rose from the dead before he ascended to the Father commissioned his church to go to all peoples and make disciples. All through out the Bible you see the story of God redeeming a people through Christ alone for himself from every tribe, nation and tongue. God reveals his plan for his church to make disciples of others when he tells Abraham that he is blessed to be a blessing to all peoples in Genesis 12.

A brother in Christ that once taught at my church taught on spiritual gifts. His teaching in summary was that God gives his body all different spiritual gifts but he has given us all the gospel and what are you doing with it? What are you doing with the gospel? Are you sharing it? Are you proclaiming it? Are you speaking it? Are you giving your life to the gospel to be made known to all peoples? Christ follower you have good news of the saving power of Jesus in you and you are his ambassador here on earth as if God were making his appeal to others through you to be reconciled to God. “And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:19-21).

So back to why I visited a mosque. If I am going to be obedient in loving people well and sharing the gospel all for the glory of God I want to be educated about a persons faith so that I can understand the differences in what they believe and the gospel. The differences are everything and is the difference in eternal life in Christ and eternal death. I want to be able to speak with people not at them and be able to share the gospel.

Many in our day are scared of Muslims. They think they are all radical terrorists. A friend gave the illustration that would be like saying that all Christians are like the KKK. My muslim friends are actually some of the most friendliest, welcoming, loving people I know. These past few months muslim women who have seeked refuge in our country have immediately welcomed me into their lives with great joy.

Tolerance is the cry of our day. But God is not tolerant. This is clear in scripture. What kind of Father would send his only Son to be be tortured by man and to receive the full wrath of God for the sin man has committed against him if he is tolerant of another way to him, if there could be another way for justice for the sin man has committed against him. Jesus cried out in prayer to his Father before he went to the cross if there is another way may the cup be lifted from him yet not as I will, but as you will(Matthew 26:39). Jesus submitted to his Father being obedient to death even on a cross. Jesus says in John 14, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life no one comes to the Father except though me.” There is no other way for man to receive reconciliation to God except through faith in Christ alone. Man is saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Oh how he loves us that he would pour out his rich mercy in Christ making us alive in Christ even when we were dead in our transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:4-5)

So if I am going to love my muslim neighbor that does not mean tolerance of what they believe. It means that I am going to die to self and love them well in word and deed sharing the gospel and my very life. We can only be obedient to share because Jesus promises to be with us as we go out and make disciples and there is much joy in obedience.

There are currently 3 BILLION people that live amongst peoples where the christian population is between ZERO and two percent. Not only will people probably live and die without ever hearing the gospel they will also live and die without ever meeting a Christian. But God in his sovereignty is using tragedy for his glory. He is bringing peoples from many different people groups to a geographical region where there are many Christians. Now these people not only have an opportunity to meet a Christian but they also have a chance to now hear the gospel if a Christ follower will simply be obedient to speak and tell them loving them well.

“How then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them.” Romans 10:14

Jesus gave his very life so that all who see their need for him and come to him and receive him as Lord and Savior may have reconciliation to God as it pleases the Father to adopt us into his family in Christ and give us the Kingdom. The one that comes to him believing and trusting and following him is to do the same thing giving their very lives obeying his great commission to his church.

The words of Jesus “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:17-10